Posted 6/30/2003 11:04:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Time for Patience...

... but I don't have much. Near Jenin, the Al Aqsa Martyrs have already busted the cease fire. How many more will be killed while the US stubbornly forces the Road Map on the region? I wish I had Sidney Zion's optimism.

Because if Bush is true to his reputation as a man who means what he says, this road map will not be the road show they think it is. Instead, it will be the last chance they have for peace.

The road map they signed on to obligates them to destroy the infrastructure of Hamas and the other terrorist gangs as a first step. If they don't do that — and Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister, says he'll never use force to do it — the only thing the Palestinians will have is the hope that Bush will double-cross Israel and force it into appeasement.

If they're wrong — and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is betting his life, if not his country, that they are — Bush will walk away from the road map and allow Israel to do what we did in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I hope the President means what he says, and that he'll fight palestinian terror as fiercely as he fights Al Queda. I'm not optimistic.

The Road Map calls for dismantling terrorist organizations, not negotiating with them. The way the western press has lauded Hamas as heroes for agreeing to a cease fire shows me they have conveniently forgotten that Hamas' destruction is a palestinian obligation before any steps need be taken by Israel. The Israelis are, once again, showing the strength of their desire for peace by giving the Arabs much more than is required of them, I fear it is too much.

The winners, so far, in the Road Map to Peace are the same terrorists that George W Bush has vowed to defeat. Although the situation calls for patience, my patience is thin. My optimism is too.